Google will vet ads to ensure European Parliament vote fully transparent
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Google will set up ad vetting transparency tool that will reveal spending and targeting information for ads to avoid any meddling in the European Parliament vote in 2019.
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12:15 25/04/24
This is the latest in a series of co-ordinated efforts by tech companies to combat the manipulation of elections. The company already rolled out the new tools in the US midterm elections in November.
Voters across the EU will choose hundreds of new MEPs next May and there are concerns regarding the growing online propaganda from populist and Eurosceptic forces and possible interference from Russia.
As part of Google’s new project, every political campaign across the bloc will be required to verify their identity and nationality before being allowed to buy advertising on Google platforms.
“With these EU elections, there is no one law governing it. So we are creating a pan-European policy to reflect the spirit of these laws,” said a Google spokesperson.
“We do not enable advertisers to target citizens based on inferred political leanings in the EU, which is different from the US where that is accepted practice,” the Google spokesperson said. “In the US, they can very broadly target left-leaning and right-leaning audiences.”
EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová said: “Others are learning from Russia [and its meddling tactics].We have observed other countries and private interests increase their capabilities for election interference.”